You'll Never Be Alone
by LucyLuna
Summary: While walking home from practice, Vanya runs into one of her brothers. Pre-canon. One-Shot.


_You'll Never Be Alone_

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Trudging home from orchestra practice, Vanya unpocketed her hand from her coat to pull her scarf higher on her face when she felt the wind begin to stir the loose strands of her ponytail. As the breeze picked up its speed, she shivered. Winter was truly on its way it seemed. As she came to round the corner that led to the street she lived on, Vanya nearly tripped over a pair of long, skinny legs. Her immediate reaction was to feel annoyed. She was sure it sucked to be homeless, but that wasn't a reason to act like you could take up the whole sidewalk.

Vanya was going to lift her head higher and avoid looking at the asshole who'd tripped her altogether when out of the corner of her eye she spotted a familiar tattoo. Pausing mid-step, she looked down at the wrist with the tattoo and confirmed it was an umbrella. She next let her gaze meander up to the shoulder, where she jumped right to the face. The tattoo owner's eyes were closed and he looked a little worse for wear today, but she'd know him anywhere. Vanya stepped out of the way of other people walking around the corner and called, "Is that you?" His eyes stayed firmly shut in spite of her talking to him. Softer and now a little afraid he wasn't okay, she said, "Klaus?"

His eye-liner smudged eyes popped open. It took Klaus's gaze only seconds to find her. When he did, a grin stretched across his thin face. "Oh my God, Vanya!" he yelled, scrambling to get up on his feet. Once standing, he shot forward and wrapped her in a very unexpected and fairly unwanted hug. "It's been so _long_, sis. How are you?"

She squirmed out of the hug and brought her violin case to rest between her and Klaus. "I'm fine," she replied. "What are you doing out here?" She gave Klaus a quick look up and down, taking in his skinny jeans, too small cotton shirt, and well-worn black denim jacket. "It's too cold to be outside dressed like that."

Klaus slipped his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and turned his attention to the road beside them. As a series of cars drove past, he said, flippant, "Just seeing if being impervious to cold is another ability I can add to my short list of useless powers." He returned his dull, vacant gaze to her and snickered. "Maybe dear old Dad will raise my ranking if I do."

Vanya frowned. She wondered if he even felt cold right now. Depending on what and how much of it he was on, he might not. "…Right." Tugging at her scarf once again as another breeze began, she asked, "Did you just get out of rehab? Sneak out, maybe?"

He sighed loudly at her and looked slightly above Vanya to the right. "No and no," he answered, only to start giggling. "Well, one of those might be a lie. Guess which one!"

She pursed her lips. Vanya supposed it didn't really matter one way or another. What did was getting him out of this cold before he lost some fingers to frostbite tonight. Reaching out, she snagged one of her brother's bony wrists and gave it a tug. "Come on," she said, "you can crash on my couch tonight."

He blinked, apparently stunned by her offer. "Really? You're not afraid I might have sticky fingers?"

Vanya huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes. She lifted her violin slightly, drawing Klaus's eye as she explained, "I'll be keeping my violin and medicine locked up with me in my bedroom." As they quickly approached her apartment building, she looked over her shoulder and smirked. "I also know you won't want to steal anything else from me. It's all too practical for your tastes." She paused briefly only to add, hoping he'd catch the hint, "Especially my coats and scarves in the hall closet."

Her brother ducked his head, lips lifting in a small, earnest smile. "The word you're looking for is _boring_, Vanya. You have no sense of style."

She laughed as she brought him up the steps of her building two at a time. "At least I'm not a nearly thirty-year-old man taking fashion tips from _Seventeen_," she teased.

Klaus stopped suddenly, jerking Vanya back. "That _hurt_," he gasped, hand over his heart. "I'll have you know they come straight from _Cosmo_."

She grinned. "Yeah, that's _a lot_ better." Reaching the door of her apartment moments later, she unlocked it and stepped aside to allow Klaus entry. "Here we are," she announced. "Did you want anything to eat or drink before I go to bed? I've had a _long_ day."

He walked in, head swiveling around, taking in her small home. She hadn't had Klaus by since she moved in a couple of years ago. She'd paid him for his help moving in her living room and bedroom furniture with dinner and some new pants. The pants he wore now, in fact. They'd never really celebrated holidays at the Academy, but maybe Klaus would let her buy him a Christmas gift in the form of some new clothes. She bet some nice gloves would be appreciated if this winter was going to get as bad as everyone seemed to think it was going to be.

He walked over and sat down on the couch. Reaching out, he ran his fingers over the shiny wood of the coffee table she bought a couple of months ago. "Hm, new coffee table?" he asked.

Closing and locking the door, Vanya began to shed her coat and scarf as she answered, "Not really, but I guess it is to you."

He looked over his shoulder at her, eyes less vacant than they had been only minutes before. There was a surprisingly sharp glint to them and Vanya didn't quite know what to make of it when Klaus bit out, "You bought it with the money from your book, didn't you?"

She ducked behind the open door to her closet and pretended to busy herself with putting away her stuff as she called back, "Yeah." It had been almost a year since her book came out, yet it seemed her siblings were still angry with her for publishing it. In hindsight, she wished hadn't included quite so many details, but, really, how much could she have left out? Just because they'd been the main players in the stories she told didn't mean they weren't her stories too. She had a right to tell them just as much as any of them. It had been her life too.

"Well, it's hideous," he told her once she closed the door to the closet.

She sighed. Vanya thought he was mostly joking, from the way he was smirking at her, but even when he was serious, Klaus had an air of goofiness to him. He just wasn't a somber guy (that had been Number Five's thing, maybe it still was, if he was out there somewhere). "I guess I should have expected that, huh?" she replied before going to the kitchen and taking out a couple of mugs from the drying rack. Filling them with water, she popped them in the microwave next to her sink.

Twisting around to look at where she was now, Klaus rested his chin on the back of her couch and asked, "What are you making?"

Leaning back against the sink, Vanya crossed her arms and said, "I'm Just heating up some water for tea. Do you want a mug too?"

He sighed and disappeared a moment only to reappear with his head hanging over the arm of her couch. "Are your tea flavors as boring as that button-up of yours?"

Vanya barely contained a snort. Reaching up into her cupboard, she pulled down the tin she kept her teabags in and looked inside. "I have vanilla chamomile or English breakfast."

Klaus crinkled his nose, but answered all the same, "Ugh, give me the vanilla."

Vanya plucked two of the vanilla chamomile from the tin and put it away. When the microwave pinged she opened it up and put them on the counter. Turning her attention to her fridge, she opened the door and peered inside. She wasn't really hungry, but Klaus might be. Who knew when the last time he ate was? "I have some leftover grilled chicken from dinner last night if you're hungry too."

"If you're not going to eat it."

She pulled out the Tupperware and picked up Klaus's freshly made tea. Padding over to the couch, she handed both to her brother. "Here."

Klaus opened the container and squinted at the chicken inside."You know it's not supposed to be this black."

Vanya shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't her fault she wasn't Mom. That fault laid on their father's shoulder. He should have done a better job programming her to teach them how to care for themselves. Then again, maybe he had purposefully hadn't in hopes it would make them more reluctant to leave. It didn't sound too crazy, anyway. Dad was an asshole. "I got caught up on the phone rescheduling a lesson, sue me," she said.

"If I had paid for this, I would," he grumbled.

She rolled her eyes and picked up her mug of tea before walking toward her room. Over her shoulder, she yelled, "You know most people just say thanks when they're given free food."

There was a sigh from Klaus. When she got curious and looked back, she saw he was holding his face in his hands. "I'm sorry," he mumbled through his fingers, "thank you, Vanya."

Vanya wondered if she should ask him what that was about. She bit her lip. He'd probably tell her it was nothing, even if she did poke and prod. She also knew if she pushed too hard he would leave. Vanya didn't want him out on the streets tonight, not in this weather. Finally, she mumbled, "You're welcome." Jabbing her thumb at the half-closed door to her room, she said, "I'm going to go change and get to bed. Turn out the lights when you go to sleep, would you?"

"Sure," he agreed, smiling over at her now.

Vanya chewed the inside of her cheek. "See you in the morning?" she asked, hopeful. In spite of living in the same city, she really didn't see Klaus that much. Or Diego for that matter. It'd be nice to catch up, even if it was just over some coffee in the morning.

"Yeah," agreed Klaus. Patting the couch, he added, "Thanks, by the way, for the couch."

"Any time, Klaus," she said, "I mean that. You're still my brother and if it's late and you're in the area and need a place to sleep, my couch is yours."

A slow smirk spread across his face. "Even if I'm as high as a kite and drunk like a skunk?"

Vanya leaned her weight against the bathroom door and grinned back. "You mean you _aren't_ right now?" she asked with faux-shock.

He chuffed a half-annoyed, half-amused breath. "I'm only the first."

She bobbed her head. "Yeah, even then."

"You're too good to me, Vanya," he said as he picked up his mug to drink his tea.

Vanya, suddenly uncomfortable, pushed away from the bathroom door and began to turn away from Klaus again. "Uh-huh," she said in a tone of disbelief, hoping he would think she thought he was simply trying to butter her up. Fingers wrapping around the handle of her bedroom door, she said, "Get some sleep." Standing there, she stared down at her sock-covered toes and suggested, "Maybe we can get waffles at the cafe down the street in the morning?"

There was a beat of silence. Then, tone light, he said, "And eggs?"

She grinned. "Sure."

"You're an angel," he complimented as a distinct thud of him flopping back on her couch filled the air.

Vanya rolled her eyes and looked one last time at her brother as she wrenched the door all the way open and stepped into her bedroom. "Ha-ha," she jeered. "Night, Klaus."

He waved a piece of chicken speared on a fork at her. "Night, Vanya."

With one last, fleeting smile she closed and locked her bedroom door.

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**Thoughts?**

**Thank you for reading :)**


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